Mike’s Digital Laboratory

Earth Hour approaches.

“On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations. Learn more about how Earth Hour began, what we’ve accomplished, and what is in store for 2010.

Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America.”

At Pictometry we have created a video of the images of Haiti that we donated to the GIS Corp in order to support the relief effort.

“Within days of the earthquake in Haiti, Pictometry captured more than 45,000 aerial oblique images of the damage in the capital city of Port au Prince and its surrounding area. The imagery was then donated to URISA’s volunteer GIS Corps to assist with the recovery efforts.”

The tag line for GoodGuide suggests they provide ratings of Natural Products, Green Products, and Healthy Products…  Well not necessarily…  What they actually do is aggregate multiple product ratings roughly divided into three categories, Health performance, Environmental performance, and Social performance.  You might chuck the shampoo you are using in  the dumpster recycle bin after learning more about what you are buying.

GoodGuide goes a long way to fulfilling an idea I’ve been kicking around with some of my friends lately.  The idea is that we need to become more conscious of the “Global cost of Ownership” or GCO of the stuff we make, buy and consume. The idea is not “what does it cost me?”, the consumer, but “what does it cost the planet?”  What is the total toll on our environment, health and social well being as the product moves from cradle to grave.

There have been many efforts to rate products over the years but they have often been focused on a singular or narrow concern for example  child safety, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, etc..  But a product strong in one area might be weak in another.   By exposing all the data, or as much as we can, we can encourage manufacturers to improve there products in all the columns  as we educate consumers about what a particular product is doing to their local and global body.   GoodGuide also follows through and reveals the sources of it’s ratings.  Verifiability is very important if we are going to be able to trust rating systems like this. Try it out.  look at a product on GoodGuide and click on the link to “See all data”.  Sources for ratings are revealed, sometimes accompanied by a direct link to the source.

Here are some other characteristics of GoodGuide as summarized in a recent post by Wikinomics blogger Paul Artiuch:

Easy to understand 10-point based rating for the health, environmental and social performance of the product

Aggregate 10-point product rating based on 600 criteria derived from 71 product facts

Scientific approach to calculating scores using information from government, not-for-profit and private databases

Comparison ratings in various product categories

Ability for users to add their own ratings and reviews with links to reviews by Amazon

iPhone application for mobile browsing

Tips on reducing environmental impact

Intuitive interface which greatly speeds up browsing

Hey, this works for me.  So in my opinion the upshot is that GoodGuide is indeed a good guide and one I think I’ll use., but more importantly it may be a model for how we can make guides good.

From Wire & Twine: 50 Ways to Help the Planet

“Going green” doesn’t have to be a daunting task that means sweeping life changes. Simple things can make a difference.

The contents of this list might not be new, but they bear repeating. Sometimes it takes a few reminders for things take root.

The  lens of change

What is the lens of change? The “lens of change” is all of us, who choose to shape the way change happens, how we see our collective reality and what we choose to do while in it. We have a golden opportunity this year to be a part of this lens. For me it seems that his year more than ever we have the opportunity to increase the “resolution” of the incoming image of change.

So I shall attempt to enumerate my wish list for the new year, a list of things we can all work on together for a better world. As an experiment I will use the newly developed Liberating Voices Pattern Language for my foundation. As you read my list you can follow the links to each individual pattern.

Smart lens, old images.

Just for a moment I’ll continue the metaphor of the lens. So what of this lens? Primarily I believe the the lens should be smart, and I am optimistic that we are growing increasingly smarter by the second as a species. A smart lens implies some form of social intelligence and this can work to our advantage.  Our combined civic intelligence can be a new source of power for change. But we also have old power systems in place that provide both stability and stupidity at a species level. If we want the “good life”, we need to replace some of the old antiquated systems of civic control and development.

Changing these old systems carefully and intelligently is important. Care needs to be taken, some of these old systems are like timbers holding up an old house and if we just yank them out things get problematic quickly. Yet like old timbers in a house the clock is ticking and If we don’t replace them they will eventfully collapse anyway. In contrast some of those old beams are just fine and we need to avoid doing stupid things that erode well planned structures. I think with the current economic situation many will know what I mean by this. Smart planning and action coordinated by governments, companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and “ordinary” people together in harmony to improve the commons is the solution I like.

This cooperation I am suggesting is self organizing. We sometimes feel helpless as individuals, but I (and I hope others) would like to embrace the idea of global citizenship. Our Earth’s vital signs are in the red and we have work to do. Here are 9 more patterns of organizing principles I’d like to see flourish in our new year.

• Social Dominance Atttenuation
• Social Responsibility
• Collective Decision Making
• Fair Trade
• Sustainable Design
• Media Literacy
• Citzen Science
• Cyberpower
• Opportunity Spaces

Smart images, Smart Actions

Systems of human behavior are required to bring about change. Global citizenship might therefore suggest the need for World Citizen Parliament. Human energy is diluted when economic systems channel our actions into non-functional and often destructive systems, therefore economic conversion to the production of goods and services that will further and/or improve the many aspects of the human condition is greatly needed in these troubled times. Here are 5 more patterns for enabling systems I would like to see more frequently in our new year.

• Strengthening International Law
• Design Stance
• Citizen Access to Simulations
• Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
• Peace Education

Smart Questions, Smart Policy

We will never truly see until we allow that which can be seen to be seen. Transparency in how the policies of our society are developed at the local, national, and global level are crucial if we are to change for the better. This is my number one wish for the new year when it comes to policy. For too long the decisions of my state and country have been made behind closed doors in proverbial smoke filled rooms. Free and Fair Elections are essential but once elected, our officials need to keep an honest, open, dialogue with the people that put them in power. Here are 5 more policy patterns I would like to see in use more frequently in this new year.

• Privacy
• Media Diversity
• Ethics of Community Informatics Research and Practice
• Positive Health Information
• Grassroots Public Policy Development

OK, All Together Now

We can do it, We can do it together. Collaboration is key and I know from experience that when people collaborate on line and in person things happen. Here are 5 collaboration patterns that I would like to see more of this year.

• Wholesome Design for Wicked Problems
• Design for Unintended Use
• Future Design
• Citizen Journalism
• Community Building Journalism

It’s Ongoing

There are many more wonderful patterns of change to explore in the liberating voices pattern language, I hope you take the time to look at these and perhaps bring them into your thinking communities or discuss them next time you are at some great good place. Or perhaps, like myself during this new year break, simply spend some time in quiet retreat and reflection.